In the end, the sandwich shop came to Hazelton in January, which is the optimal month for a small town to gain something new, since post-Christmas winter only takes, denies and negates. If anyone or any place needs bolstering, it should happen in the latter half of winter.

It was that singular time of the year. The kids still had two weeks of freedom left before they returned to pencils and books, a noticeable number of leaves had turned yellow, Halloween candy appeared in the stores, and it became prudent to bring a thin jacket when you went out in the morning...

Three winters ago, I lived on Anarchist Mountain in Osoyoos. It was an odd, idle time for a Northwester, since snow was only on the ground for a month and the season didn’t linger past the end of January.